Week 11

Lesson 8. METHODS OF RESEARCH

A. EXPERIMENTAL PURPOSE
RESEARCH
1. True experimental Investigates probable cause and
effect relationship by having one or
more experimental groups exposed
to one or more treatment conditions
and comparing the results to one or
more control groups not receiving
the treatment.
Approximates the conditions of true
2. Quasi-experimental experiment in a setting that does not
allow control and/or manipulations
of all relevant variables.
 B. Non-experimental
Purpose
research

1. Historical Objectives and accurate reconstruction of the

past in the relation to the tenability of an
hypothesis

Describes systematically, factually and

2. Descriptive accurately the nature of a phenomenon under
investigation after a survey of trends,
practices and conditions relevant to that
phenomenon
 Purpose

3. Developmental Investigates patterns

and sequence of growth
and/or change as a
function of time on a
certain phenomenon

4.Correlational Examines the extent to

which variations in one
variable correspond with
variations in one or more
other variables based on
correlation coefficient.
 Purpose
Studies intensively to interpret the
5. case and field background, current status, and
environmental interactions of a
given social unit an individual,
group, community or institution.

Investigates possible cause and effect

6.causal-comparative or ex post facto relationships by observing some
or retrospective existing consequences or effects and
searching back through the data for
any plausible cause.

7. Action Research Develops new skills or new

approaches to solve problems with
direct application on nursing
intervention or other applied setting
Experimental Research 
It is a collection of research
designs which use manipulation
and controlled testing to
understand causal processes.
Generally, one or more variables
are manipulated to determine their
effect on a dependent variable.
 The experimental method
is a systematic and scientific approach to research
in which the researcher manipulates one or more
variables, and controls and measures any change in
other variables.

AIMS OF EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH

Experiments are conducted to be able to predict

phenomenons
experiment is constructed to be able to explain
some kind of causation.
Experimental research is important to society - it
helps us to improve our everyday lives.
Factors that affect Experimental Method

actual design
group selections
feasibility of the study
Cost
Time
Ethics
How the study can be measured and the validity of
the study
IDENTIFYING THE RESEARCH PROBLEM

The research problem is

often operationalizationed, to define
how to measure the research problem.
The results will depend on the
exact measurements that the researcher
chooses and may be operationalized
differently in another study to test the
main conclusions of the study.
CONSTRUCTING THE EXPERIMENT

There are various aspects to remember when constructing an experiment.

Planning ahead ensures that the experiment is

carried out properly and that the results reflect
the real world, in the best possible way.
Quasi-Experimental Design
Quasi-experimental design is a form of
experimental research used extensively in the
social sciences and psychology.

DESIGN
involves selecting groups, upon which a
variable is tested, without any random
pre-selection processes.
example
to perform an educational experiment, a
class might be arbitrarily divided by
alphabetical selection or by seating
arrangement. The division is often
convenient and, especially in an educational
situation, causes as little disruption as
possible.

After this selection,

the experiment proceeds in a very similar
way to any other experiment, with a
variable being compared between different
groups, or over a period of time.
ADVANTAGES of QED

1. Especially in social sciences, where pre-selection and randomization of

groups is often difficult, they can be very useful in generating results for
general trends.
Example:

If we study the effect of maternal alcohol use when

the mother is pregnant, we know that alcohol does
harm embryos. A strict experimental design would
include that mothers were randomly assigned to drink
alcohol. This would be highly illegal because of the
possible harm the study might do to the embryos.

Researchers are to ask people how much alcohol they used in

their pregnancy and then assign them to groups.
2. Quasi-experimental design is often integrated
with individual case studies; the figures and results
generated often reinforce the findings in a case
study, and allow some sort of statistical analysis to
take place.

3. Without extensive pre-screening and

randomization needing to be undertaken, they do
reduce the time and resources needed for
experimentation.
 DISADVANTAGES

1. Without proper randomization, statistical tests can be

meaningless.

Example:
these experimental designs do not take into account any
pre-existing factors (as for the mothers: what made them
drink or not drink alcohol), or recognize that influences
outside the experiment may have affected the results.
2. A quasi experiment constructed to analyze the
effects of different educational programs on two
groups of children, for example, might generate
results that show that one program is more effective
than the other.
These results will not stand up to rigorous
statistical scrutiny because the researcher also need
to control other factors that may have affected the
results. This is really hard to do properly.
One group of children may have been slightly
more intelligent or motivated. Without some form of
pre-testing or random selection, it is hard to judge the
influence of such factors.
Non-Experimental
Research design: the plan and structure of
research to provide a credible answer to a
research question
Purpose of non-experimental designs:
describe current existing characteristics
such as achievement, attitudes,
relationships
4 types of designs of NED
1. Studies that describe a phenomena
Statistical nature of the description (e.g.,
frequency, percentages, averages, graphs, etc.)
Importance of these designs in the early stages of
the investigation of an area
Criteria for evaluating descriptive studies
• Conclusions about relationships should not be
drawn
• Subjects and instruments should be described
completely
 2. Relationship designs Designs

Designs describing the relationship between two or more variables

1. Comparative designs

- These studies investigate the relationship of one variable to another

by examining differences on the dependent variable between two
groups of subjects

If math scores for males are significantly higher than those for
females, a relationship exists between gender and math achievement.
If the academic self-concept scores for ninth graders are
significantly different than those for twelfth graders, a relationship
exists between grade level and academic self-concept.

If the third grade achievement scores for whites are not

significantly different that those for non-whites, no relationship exists
between ethnicity and achievement
Criteria for evaluating comparative
designs
a.Subjects and instruments are described
completely
b.Criteria for identifying the different
groups is clearly stated
c.No inferences are made about
causation
d.Graphs and images depict the results
accurately
 Correlational designs
Simple correlation – studies or
examine the relationship/s between
two variables.
Examples:

Math achievement and math attitudes;

Teacher effectiveness and teacher efficacy

Caution in interpreting correlations

A relationship between two variables (e.g., achievement and

attitude) does not mean one causes the other (i.e., positive
attitudes do not cause high levels of achievement)
Attenuation - the possibility of low reliability
of the instruments makes it difficult to
identify relationship.

Restriction in range - a lack of variability in scores

makes it difficult to identify relationships.
Everyone scoring very, very low
Everyone scoring very, very high

Large sample sizes and/or using many variables can

identify significant relationships for statistical reasons
and not because the relationships really exist.